Gujarat High Court Civil Manual (subordinate court practice), 1960
The following are the rules under which copies of papers may be submitted under section 41 of the Bombay Civil Courts Act, (Act XIV of 1869): (1) A party to any proceeding may, on application on the prescribed Court fee, made to the Court having the custody of the record, obtain a certified copy of any judgment, order, deposition, memorandum of evidence, or any document filed in the said proceeding. The application shall state whether the copy applied for is required for private use or otherwise. (2) Applications for copies by persons other than parties to the proceeding shall be supported by an affidavit stating the purpose for which the copies are sought. (3) On receipt of an application, the office shall immediately scrutinize it with a view to ascertaining the correct number of the proceeding, names of the parties, description of the document copy of which is applied for, and whether the document is available for copying. (4) The office shall estimate the costs of the copies before the copying work is undertaken. The estimate should, as far as possible, cover all probable costs of the copies. (5) The applicant shall be called upon to deposit the estimated costs of the copies applied for, and make up other deficiencies then and there only, if his presence is available in the office. In other cases, the orders of the Presiding Judge shall be obtained requiring the applicant to supply the deficiencies within a specified period of time, not exceeding ten days from the receipt of the intimation. (6) When the description of the document given in the application is incorrect or deficient, and it is, in consequence, necessary for the Record Keeper to search his records in order to find it, a fee at the rate of one rupee for each year of which the records are searched, shall be payable by the applicant for such search, whether the document be found or not, and whether the copy for which he applies, on examination of the said document, be granted or not. (7) As soon as the office finds that the application is complete in all respects, it shall be dealt with by the Clerk of the Court who may either grant the application or refuse it for reasons to be recorded thereon, or pass such other orders as he may deem just. In case of refusal, such refusal, and the grounds for the refusal, shall be communicated to the applicant in writing. (8) Copies shall be furnished within 10 days of the presentation or receipt of the application, if the application is complete on that date, unless further delay is unavoidable, in which case the cause shall be endorsed on the copy. In other cases, the period of 10 days shall be computed from the date on which the application is completed in all respects. (9) When a party apples for a copy of an appellate judgment for the purposes of filing a further appeal or revision, he shall be furnished with a copy not only of the judgment but also of the grounds of appeal and of the cross-objections, if any, unless these are incorporated in the judgment itself. (10) A certified copy of a part only of any document on record whether exhibited or not, may, in the discretion of the Presiding Judge, be given. No copy, however, shall be given of part of a judgment or of an order recorded on the application without a copy of the application itself. In the case of a Roznama, the portion of which copy is given at the discretion of the Presiding Judge must include all the entries of a particular date or dates, accompanied with the heading. (11) Copies of any document on the record of a proceeding prepared by a party, may in the discretion of the Presiding Judge of the Court, be certified as true copies upon an application made in that behalf : Provided that the copies sought to be certified are typed neatly and on good paper, and are otherwise in conformity with the instructions laid down in rule 21 hereof ; and Provided further that the applicant pays the comparing fees herein prescribed for certified copies prepared in the office. (12) The following endorsement shall be made on every copy of the document : — The date on which the copy was applied for. The date on which the application was completed. The date on which the copy was ready for delivery. The date on which it was delivered or posted. To prevent unauthorised alterations being made, the date shall be written in letters in distinct handwriting and the endorsement should be signed by some authorised officer of the Court on the date on which it was made. (16) Court fees should be recovered at the time of furnishing copies and not when the copies are filed in Courts. Under Articles 24, 25 and 27 of Schedule II of the Bombay Court-fees Act, 1959, fees are leviable in respect of copies of the documents specified therein except in cases where the Government has, by a notification under section 46 of the aforesaid Act exempted any document or class of documents from payment of Court fees. Under clause (7) of Government Notification, Revenue Department, No. 590, dated 16th September 1921, Court fees are remitted in case copies are required for private use by persons, applying for them. Before the aforesaid copies of documents are furnished to the parties concerned, a statement should be obtained from them as to whether the copies are required for private use or otherwise; and if the parties state that the copies are required for private use then in accordance with the exemption granted by Government, no Court fee should be levied on such copies. In case the aforesaid copies are produced later on in any court, then Court fee as required under the foregoing provisions should be levied before they are received. The copies on which Court fees are not chargeable under the Bombay Court-fees Act, 1959, should not be certified to be true copies unless stamp duty under Article 26, Schedule I of the Bombay Stamp Act, 1958, has been paid before furnishing them. Stamp duty under the Bombay Stamp Act will not however be chargeable on copies on which Court fees are chargeable but which has been remitted by a Notification under section 46 of the Bombay Court-fees Act. (19) In cases where the applicant refuses to pay the balance of the amount of the charges due from him or to accept the V. P. P. the Court shall recover the amount by attachment and sale of the moveable property of the applicant. (20) In every case where an applicant for certified copies pays a deposit, he should be granted a receipt preferably in Form A of Appendix I at page 485, Volume II. (21) All copies should be correct, and typed or written in a clear hand, with good ink, on stout paper, and on the outer three quarter margin only of sheets of foolscap paper, the inner one quarter margin of every sheet being left blank. (22) All copies shall be dated, subscribed and sealed in the manner prescribed by section 76 of the Indian Evidence Act. The Clerk of the Court is the officer appointed in every Civil Court to certify and deliver copies of all civil records within the meaning of section 76 of the Indian Evidence Act.